One day after New York officials announced a Doctors Without Borders physician had tested positive for Ebola, another person who treated patients in West Africa developed a fever and was put in isolation at a northern New Jersey hospital.
The second health care worker, a woman who hasn’t been identified by name, did not have any Ebola symptoms upon arrival Friday at Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey health department spokesman Donna Leusner said.
Yet things changed in the hours that followed. According to Leusner, “This evening, the health care worker developed a fever and is now in isolation and being evaluated at University Hospital in Newark.”
That woman is being tested for Ebola, according to a government official who is receiving updates about the situation.
Unlike Dr. Craig Spencer, the 33-year-old now in isolation at Bellevue Hospital in nearby New York City, this second health care worker is not confirmed to have Ebola.
In fact, there have been far more examples in recent weeks of suspected Ebola cases than actual ones in the United States. For all the scares, only four people — starting with Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian who died in a Dallas hospital, followed by two Dallas health care workers who’d treated him, lastly Spencer — so far have been diagnosed with the deadly virus in the United States.
Still, the concerns that Ebola could spread further remain real. And, especially amid criticism over how the Dallas cases were handled, officials have signaled their intent to take stops to prevent it moving in.
To this end, the governors of New York and New Jersey announced Friday their states were stepping up airport screening for Ebola beyond federal requirements for travelers from Ebola-hit countries in West Africa.
The policy allows the states to determine hospitalization or quarantine for up to 21 days for travelers from the affected countries. A mandatory quarantine is called for those who had “direct contact with an individual infected with the Ebola virus,” including medical workers who treated Ebola patients.
In addition, people with a travel history to the affected regions but with no direct contact with Ebola patients will be “actively monitored… and, if necessary, quarantined.”
The health care worker being isolated at Newark’s University Hospital was among those initially quarantined as a result of this policy.
“This is not the time to take chances,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — joined by his New Jersey counterpart, Chris Christie — said of the shift. “This adjustment in increasing the screening procedures is necessary … I think public safety and public health have to be balanced and I think this policy does that.”
U.S. considers Ebola quarantine
The United States is considering a mandatory quarantine for returning health care workers from West Africa, an Obama administration official said Friday.
The move is an attempt to give clarity to a public concerned about travelers returning from the region and is not because officials fear there is a risk of transmission from people who are not exhibiting Ebola-like symptoms, the official said.
Ebola has killed nearly 5,000 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
All travelers coming to the United States from Ebola-affected areas will be actively monitored for 21 days, starting Monday.
In addition, all U.S.-bound passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea must land in one of the five U.S. airports with enhanced screening for Ebola: New York’s Kennedy, Washington Dulles, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International, Chicago’s O’Hare International and Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta.
